Two more county 'islands' annex into Gainesville

GAINESVILLE - Gainesville whittled down county 'island' property within the city with two annexations Tuesday night approved by Planning and Appeals Board members.
The Board welcomed the Gainesville Church of God on Browns Bridge Road and Donald Westmoreland's new home sites at Hilltop and Stringer Avenue into the city with a unanimous vote to recommend the annexations to City Council for a final vote.
Councilman Danny Dunagan said island property owners were already interested in coming into the city.

"During the hearings on the 'islands' we had a lot of interested people saying that they did want to come into the city," Dunagan said. "That's why we made it so easy for them by waiving the fee; it was a $500 fee."

Dunagan, a former Planning and Appeals Board chairman, is now City Council's planning board representative.

Last November City Council abandoned a plan to annex more than 500 'island' properties into the city after many property holders objected.
Instead Council agreed to waive the $500 annexation application fee for any existing county island property owner who wanted to annex into the city.

Crescent Drive property owner Elora Stargel withdrew her eleven-acre annexation request because of a county objection over zoning.

"The County filed an official objection," City Planning Director Rusty Ligon said. "They thought a commercial zoning would fit better with their comprehensive plan."

Stargel wanted to annex with residential zoning; Ligon said she could come before Planning and Appeals later with a new annexation request with different zoning.

ANOTHER BIG DOWNTOWN BUILDING

Another big office building is planned for downtown Gainesville and Planning and Appeals Board members approved a variance request for it.
Attorney Mike Weaver said he wanted setback changes for his three-story, 18,000 square foot office building at the corner of E.E. Butler Parkway near the corner of Jesse Jewell Parkway.

"We're trying to make it as big as we can to maximize the space and to do that we need these variances," Weaver said.

Weaver said the variance would give him room for the building plus 55 parking spaces at the site now occupied by a car wash.
The site is within the Gateway Corridor Overlay One and partially within the Midtown Overlay Zone; the building would locate in the heart of Gainesville's business and government district adjacent to the Hall County Court House, the Joint Administrative Building, Wachovia Bank building and Regions office building.